Parachute



. I. RUFF.

rjARAcHuTE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, I9I8.

Patented Sept. 14, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

mesje@ PATENT OFFIQE.-

WILLIAM` RUIEF, OF Q'U'INGY, ILLINOIS.

PARACHTE.

Speciication ofv Letters `:Patent Patented Sept. 14, 1920.

Application led May 25, 1918. Serial No. 236,459.

To all whom t may concern: y

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. Rm, a

citizen of the United States, 'residing at- Quincy, county of Adams, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Parachutes, of`A which the .following is a specification. I

This invention has for its object the provision of a deviceof the class named which shall be of improved construction and operation. The invention is exemplified in the combination and arrangement of parts shown inv the accompanyingv drawings and described in the following specification, and

it is more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. l

' In the Vdrawi'ngs--- *Figure 1 is a top plan view ofa parachute embodying one form of the present invention;

FF ig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of 1g. l; A

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view showlng a detail of construction; and

Figs. 4 and 5` are views similar to 1 and 2 respectively but showing a slightly modified form of the invention.

IVith the rapiddevelopment of aviation there has become apparent the need of something that will take the place that the lifeboat occupies in navigationl of the'sea, and

the parachuteis the best solution thathas soV far been offered for this problem. Parachutes as heretofore constructed have been, however, uncertain in their action and-unreliable. It is a comparatively easy matter to launch a parachute from a balloon which is free tomove with the air currents, but it is much more difficult to launch a parachute from a balloon which is anchored so that there is a relative movement between the surrounding atmosphere and the balloon, and it is still more difiicult to launch a parachute from a rapidly moving aeroplane. In order that a parachute may oifer a reasonably dependable means of safety in case of accident to a balloon or an aeroplane, it is 'u necessary that it shall be constructed so that there shall be certainty of operation when it is launched, so that it shall open quickly without waiting to fall a great distance, and so that it shall descend with a minimum de gree vof oscillation. Theparachute should also be constructed'so that it will aiordthe largest possible sustaining power for a given area of cloth, so that'it may be adjusted to meet various conditions of weight to be carried, and so that it may/be under the contrbl, as far as possible, of the person supported by it.

In the invention as illustrated in the drawy ings, a lnumber of changes have been made over the old form of parachute, and the relation ofthese changes to the various re quireinents of modern aeronautics will be pointed out in connection with the description' of the drawings. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, the dome 10 of the parachute is made up of a series of sections of cloth 11 properly shaped and fastened together along seams 12. There is an opening 13 at the center of the dome which is surrounded by a ring 14 to which the inner ends of the sections of cloth 11 are attached. Extending down? wardly from various points around the periphery of the dome 1 0 are flexible members 15 which .may be cords but which are preferably flat tape or webs which continue past the periphery of thedome of the parachute and are sewed to the `connected edges of the sections 11 along the seams l2, and have their .upper ends connected to the ring 14. Thus thetapes 15 form binders to reinforce theL seams 12 and extend continuously from the ring 14 over the dome of the parachute past the edge of the dome and down to a ring 16 which is suspended beneath the parachute and to which all the tapes 15 are attached. Each tape 15 is provided with a buckle 17 by which the length of the tape may be accurately adjusted. Extending downwardly through the center of the parachute from the ring 14, and connecting the ring 14 with the ring 16, are a number of cords 18 which are alsopreferably flat webs or tape like those shown at 15. The weight to be carried by the parachute may be suspended from the ring 16 in any suitable manner, and in the- 'drawing a series of straps'19 areshown atltachedto the ring 16 in a manner to support a ring 2O from which a ,safety hookl 21 is suspended, which may be secured to the Of cou'rse'other means belt of the aviator. may be employed for sustaining the weight :of the person descending in the parachute.

Fig. -3 shows a slight modification in which from its container.

upon one another more readily than cord or rope and do'not have the same tendency. to

snarl and tangle. It is well in folding the tape to place a fold of newspaper or similar material between the lfolds of tape, as this assists in 4preventing the tape from becom-` ing tangled. lVhen the parachute is' launchedfrom its'container, the weightof the aviator is first transmitted to the dome or cloth portion through thecords 18, thus drawing the central portion. of the dome downwardly at the very beginning ofthe descent.

ward direction, the periphery immediately catches the air 'and tends toturn back and out. If 'it were not for the cords 15 the parachute would be,immediatelyv turned inside out before the aviator haddescended more than a very few feet, and the first part of this process is what actually takes place,.

but when the process has proceeded to the point where the parachute is Vin its open position, it is arrested by cords v15. and the air immediately fills the dome of the parachute which is' now open-and in position tosustain the weight of the operator before theoperator has fallen any 'appreciable disstance, and consequent'lybefore the weight has attained any considerable momentum. Thus a positive opening action is imparted to the parachute, like that byA means of which an Vumbrella is `opened when the handle is drawn'downwardly through thel ferrule attached tothe ribs. The surround- Lugatmosphe're pushes up on.the periphery.

of the parachute like the braces for the ribs push upwardly on the periphery ofthe umbrella. I l.

Thisoperation differs in many respects from that of a parachute'which has the sus- `ta1 nin0' cords attached to the periphery only, fior in the old form of parachute, the weight of the operator as he .descends Vvthrough the air, has a tendency todraw the periphery of the parachute inwardly and the central portion trails behind, so that heordinarily falls through the air a great dis- -tance before the resistance of the small amount ofA air caught by the lower edges of the parachute becomes great enough to force the periphery of the parachute outwardly ,and cause it to open, and when the arachutehas nally'opened, the rate of-d scent has become vso greatthat the parachute issubjected to excessive strains in overcoming the momentum which has been .de-

launched.` i

As the central portion of the dome i is. thus drawn through the air in a Idown- `than a lighterfperson would. In the vide extra spread A o veloped;` a 'inuchl larger andvheavier it will open immediately vafter it has been The smaller tage aside from the diference in welght Awhich must be carried, because it .is much parachute has a great Aadvanthe''re oflan enemy); It will also permit more rapidz descent with safetyfafter it has once. opened, Land this ofcourse is `also a' greatadvantage inwarfare. With the old form of parachute,` the amount of spread depends to some extent vupon the weight sustained, for the reason that the weight tends to draw the periphery of the dome .inwardlyJ 'so that a heavier person would have in fact less sustaining areawhen suspended by la particular parachute res- Aso

ent form, theweight is suspended partlally 15, so that it is distributed over the entire spread of cloth, and the amount the parachute is opened may be regulated by the .by the cords 18. andy partially by the cords buckles 17. In this-way the parachute. may be accurately adjusted so as to give the best results for a given weight to be sustained, and-it is consequentlA not necessary to profy cloth,- but each parachute maybe accurately adjusted to give the .maximum sustaining power and minimum spread for the particular weight itl-is to carry. This, of course, helps to decrease the4 amount of weight necessary for the aviator to carry, .decreases his risk of -being struck during descent, and 'makes it possible to provide for vthe most rapid rate of descent compatible. with safety.

- It' is desirable to provide an opening 13.

in the dome of the parachute as this vtends to decrease the oscillation during the de.- scent, butin the old form of parachute this opening permitted the escape of air from within the folds of the parachute at the beginning .of a descent and thus had a tendency to form a vacuum within the folds and prevent the folds fromopening.- This difculty is overcome in the present form for the reason that. the central portion of'the .dome-is drawn downwardly at the beginning of the descent and the parachute is posiltively opened before this action' of the air occurs.

In the form of the invention shown in i Figs. 4 and 5, a pau' of envelops `or domes 25 fand 26 are employed in place of the single dome as in the form already described.

`A The lower or inner dome 25 is shown in elevation in Fig. 5v while the upper dome 26 is shown in section. This form of the -invenl tion differs from the one. previously dechute changes, so that the upwardly moving air impinges upon the upper dome in a direction to correct the swaying tendency of the parachute. connecting tapes 27 may be adjusted so as to space the upper dome from the lower one the proper distance to obtain the best results.

I claim:

1. In combination, a flexible member arranged to form when opened the dome of a parachute, a device for supporting a weightto be carried by said parachute, cords ex. tending from said supporting device to the central portion of said flexible member, supplemental cords extending from said' supporting device to the Iperiphery of said flex- -ible member, and-means-for adjusting the length 'of said last-mentioned cords.

2. In combination, a flexible member arranged to forrnwhen opened the dome of a parachute, said flexible member having an opening at the central portion thereof,'

weight-sustaining cords connected with said flexible member near the central portion thereof, and supplemental cords connected with the periphery of said flexible member to limit the upward movement of saidperiphery.

v3. In combination, a flexible member arranged to form when opened the dome of a 5. In combination, a parachute comprising a dome or sustaining portion having. an

opening at the center thereof, sustaining It will be noted that the ycords extending downwardly from the central portion of said dome, a supporting ring carried by said sustaining cords, supplemental cords connected with the periphery of said dome and having their lower ends attached to said supporting ring, and means for adjusting the length of said supplemental cords. A

6. A parachute comprising two flexible members arranged to form when opened two air-engaging domes arranged one above the other and means for adjustably connecting said domes together.

7. A parachute comprising two flexible members arranged to form when opened a pair of domes positioned one above the other, the lower dome having a central opening therein, means for adjustably connecting, thev peripheries of said domes', and means for connecting the central portion of one of said domes to the weight to be carried bysaid parachute.

8. Aparachute comprising two flexible members arranged to form when opened a pair of vdomes positioned one above the other, means for connecting the peripheries of said domes, means for connecting the periphery of the .lowermost dome to the we1ght to be carried by said parachute and means for connecting the.central...portion.

of said lowermost dome to said weight.

9." A parachute comprising a canopy made of flexible material and unprovidedl with stifl'ening ribs, flexible weight-supporting means secured to said canopy near the central portion thereof, flexible members secured to the periphery of said parachute and connected 'at their lower ends with said? weight-supporting means, and means in each of the flexible members for length of the latter.

10. A parachute comprising a i canopy composed of flexible material foldable transversely .to the radial lines of said canopy, flexible cords secured to said canopy near the "central portion thereof and extending downwardly therefrom, the' lower ends of said cords being secured to a Weight-supporting device, and flexible cords extending y from the periphery of said parachute to said weight-supporting device, each flexible cord `being arranged for adjustment in length independently of the other flexible cords.

In testimony whereof' I have signed my name to this specification on this 22d day of May, A. D. 1918. I

WILLIAM J. RUFF.

adjusting thev l 

